Band:	Exodus
Album:	Impact Is Imminent
Style:	Bay Area thrash metal
Release date:	June 1990

01. Impact Is Imminent
02. A.W.O.L.
03. The Lunatic Parade
04. Within The Walls Of Chaos
05. Objection Overruled
06. Only Death Decides
07. Heads They Win (Tails You Lose)
08. Changing Of The Guard
09. Thrash Under Pressure

It's rare that an album cover and title can be so prophetic; Exodus were in the fast lane going into their fourth album Impact Is Imminent, riding the momentum for all it was worth. Slowly catching up with the band however was the weight of expectation that followed their success; it would see the band collide with it and be crushed under its weight for all the world to see.

The band rode into the 90s at such speed they seemed to lose sight of what brought them this far; rather than slow down and chart their course, the band put their feet to the floor and accelerate down what would turn out to be a dead end road. Was it a problem unique to Exodus? Of course not, hindsight is 20/20 as well, but looking back, the band did make some glaring errors on Impact Is Imminent.

The biggest problem with this album is that it seems obsessed with cramming as much lyrical content into a song regardless of it fitting or how it could hinder the catchiness of the tracks. The most prominent example of this problem is "Within The Walls Of Chaos"; sure the lyrics are good, but given their machine gun delivery, all you are left with is a blur as what is sung flies past you, whereas a slower delivery or less content would reveal some good lyrics behind the blur. Zetro does deliver them as well as he can, but it's like trying to put water back into a leaking bucket, a notable but flawed effort.

This insistence on cramming as much they could into a track with little regard for how it sounds is something that bogs down much of the album; the shorter songs, by virtue of having less time to fit in as much content, fare better but are not totally immune. Tracks like "Objection Overruled" still seem bloated but come off lightly compared to songs such as "Heads They Win (Tails You Lose)". Given this album came out a month before Pantera's Cowboys From Hell, the band chose quantity over quality when the scene was about to flip the complete other way.

On the other hand, I still do find Impact Is Imminent to be enjoyable; while it is overstuffed with ideas, they're still good ideas. The problem lies in the presentation of these ideas that gives the album its reputation. The glut of riffs and lyrics are good and there is plenty of quality to be found, it's just that you have to swim through a torrent of music in order to reach them. Had the band halved the ideas on each track and turned them into separate songs (with better vocal delivery than at a million miles an hour) then this album would be a crushing collection of tracks rather than a chaotic collective.

The band have never sounded so good, with Holt and Hunolt having a guitar tone that is to be envied. Zetro sounds clear and concise and sits perfectly in the mix. In the chaos it is hard to find McKillop and harder to really judge Tempesta who is trying to herd cats and lead this audio avalanche from each beginning to end. It is a shame this production job is ultimately lost in the deluge of music they unleash.

By the album's end, the amount of music on the record slows the car down so much so that the weight of expectation steamrolls over the band and leaves them a mess on the road. Had the band split the weight in two cars/albums, they could have easily kept going and if not put greater distance between themselves and expectation, at the very least they could have maintained what lead they had.